Gas Chambers in Auschwitz

Millions of people were killed at the hands of deadly gas chambers during the Holocaust. Let's explore how they were used in the Auschwitz Extermination Camp.

gas chamber

USHMM - Gas Chamber #1, Auschwitz

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Early in the Holocaust, the SS decided that the best way to achieve the "Final Solution" would be to use gas to kill all of the Jews. Soon, Gas Vans, portable gas chambers, were implemented by the Nazis. Read more about this here. However, it would soon be realized that stationary gas chambers would be much more effective. The first stationary gas chambers, utilizing Carbon Monoxide, were placed in the Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka Concentration Camps. At these camps, prisoners were told they needed to "shower." They were led into the room with their arms raised in order to fit as many people as possible. Then, the gas would fill the room, killing all of the victims inside. This method of gassing, like the gas vans, was not very effective, so when constructing the chambers in Auschwitz, they searched for a new chemical gas compound. In Early September, 1941, several experiments were carried out to find the most effective chemical agent and the most effective process to carry out the mass murder of non-Aryans. About 600 Soviet Prisoners of War and 250 sick Poles were killed over the three days of experimentation.

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NBC News - Crematorium #1, Auschwitz

They realized that the most lethal and easy to use gas would be a gas compound known as Zyklon B. This gas could be transported as a powder, and would be released as gas into the chamber, killing all of the people inside. Soon after, the morgue at Auschwitz 1 was converted into a gas chamber, creating the first permanent gas chamber in the Auschwitz camp (#1). In this killing center, several hundred people could be killed at once. Explore the first gas chamber in Auschwitz via a virtual tour here. 

As this gas chamber performed exceptionally in Auschwitz, the Nazis constructed four more, housed in the Birkenau (Auschwitz #2) camp. Construction began in 1942, and they began operating towards the middle of 1943. Thousands of people could be put to death at once in each of the four new gas chambers, and the new crematoria could burn up to 4,416 corpses per day. This meant that over 1.6 million people could be killed and burned per year. 

zyklon

Britannica - Zyklon B Powder Pellets

At the peak of the intake of prisoners into Auschwitz, 6,000 Jews were killed on average daily. See more information on these four gas chambers, and their construction, here. Even more disgustingly, the Nazi soldiers would appoint a group of Jews, known as Sonderkommandos, to carry out many of the Gas Chamber/Crematoria Tasks. These men would be responsible for leading the prisoners into the gas chambers, then removing their dead bodies and burning them in the crematoria. They were threatened with death if they did not comply, and also were given nicer living conditions, along with other benefits. Many Jews participated in these activities, essentially assisting in the death of their own people. Read more about the Sonderkommandos here. 

The gas chambers were the main way that the Nazis exterminated Jews throughout the Holocaust, and are an extremely valuable part of history to learn about. 

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